Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

"By the way, yesterday I heard you saying that all the treasure beasts in the inner barn are drinking water from the Cloud Spring, am I right?" Zachary then asked casually.

"Yes. In fact, the Cloud Spring water is very pure. The spring water originates some one hundred meters under the ground, containing a rich amount of energy from the earth. That's why we call the water 'magic water' for feeding treasure beasts," Ryder quickly replied. He thought he was doing his best for the treasure beasts.

"From today forward, stop letting them drink the spring water," Zachary ordered in a stern, serious tone.

"Huh? Why's that? We've always used the Cloud Spring water to let the treasure beasts drink at will. In fact, it's widely acknowledged in the Xiao Clan. So much so, actually, that many warriors from the Devil Kingdom regularly travel thousands of miles to collect that exact water." Ryder was clearly puzzled. He genuinely didn't understand why Zachary wouldn't want the beasts to drink water from the Cloud Spring.

"Spring water originates underground, like you said, so yes, it's very rich in minerals. That said though, not all treasure beasts should drink the spring water, because not all the beasts benefit from such high mineral intake. From verifying their excrement yesterday, I found that certain treasure beasts have excessive minerals in their bodies. If you continue this way, several negative side effects will begin to arise due to the unbalanced nutrition," Zachary explained, being careful not to over complicate the matter.

"Huh? Minerals? Too high? Unbalanced nutrition?" As he repeated the terms aloud himself, Ryder was flabbergasted and couldn't believe what was going on. They had been functioning in this way for years already!

"Yes. Like it or not, you've got to stop. I still need time to read through all the treasure beast information thoroughly, but when I do, I'll tell you exactly which treasure beasts can continue drinking from the Cloud Spring water and which can't. Until then, stop them altogether." Zachary didn't want to get into too many details.

"Got it," Ryder said with a nod of his head. As he listened to what Zachary had to say, Ryder didn't say anything else. 'This guy is known for his many tricks. I'd like to see what he is capable of doing, ' he thought to himself instead.

Although he didn't fully agree with Zachary, he still di

. Zachary, on the other hand, remained unmoved.

"Are you blind?" asked the bald man. At first, the man was stunned for a moment, before he immediately opened his eyes wide and stared at Zachary. He roared in an odd fashion, because he felt certain that Zachary was just an ordinary Xiao Clan disciple. Despite feeling interrupted, he was curious as to how Zachary was capable of remaining still.

As soon as the bald man spoke, Zachary sneered back, "Who the hell are you? Perhaps you're blind. Had you hit any of those disciples, they would have been seriously injured. You may be an Imperial Level warrior, but you are very reckless and obviously careless."

"You..." growled the man. His face quickly turned ghastly. He'd never expected to be scolded, much less by a basic disciple like he imagined Zachary to be.

When the Xiao Clan disciples saw what was going on, they were all shocked. At the same time, they were worried about Zachary, because the bald man was famous for his bad temper in the Xiao Clan. His name was Carmelo Xu. Although he was only at the third grade of Imperial Level, he had a terrible attitude. Moreover, he was a Xiao Clan elder's personal disciple, and thus, most Xiao Clan warriors avoided any and all conflict with him as much as possible. Nonetheless, Zachary scolded him straight in the face, which really made others turn their heads and stare.

"I order you to apologize for what you've done! Apologize to me right now!" Zachary commanded arrogantly. Of course, he was acting out on purpose, slowly giving himself a bad and rough image within the Xiao Clan.